Gee-O-Science Links for May, 2013

Running a few days late due to local severe weather events, but here’s May’s post. Hope you enjoy.

To say that May, 2013 was histrionic (in a weather way) is a vast understatement. A cool spell across the plains, including record latest snowfalls in OK, got the month off to an unusual start. But the most notable climactic characteristic of May for North America, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, made up for lost time with a multi-day severe weather episode that reached it’s peak with the EF-5 tornado that damaged much of Moore, OK and killed 24 people. The large volume of atmospheric science links I’ve compiled for this month dictates that I’ll be using most of this post for those topics and combine general science, tech, social science, etc. together…so let’s get started.

GENERAL SCIENCE/TECH/SOCIAL MEDIA/SOCIAL SCIENCE

My, how far we’ve come. Here’s a look back at science labs over the past few centuries.

Take a visit to The People’s Science whose purpose is to increase communication between scientists and the general public.

Light pollution is a constant annoyance for many photographers and astronomers. Now there are two new citizen science apps to measure light pollution.

Got a green thumb? Why not make a garden that’s a haven for wildlife & chip in on some citizen science at the same time?

When I was a kid, the school bullies had a field day teasing me about my interest in dinosaurs. Looks like I won in the long run.

Some new tech gadgets are pretty cool, but this is a first. Meet Memoto, an automatic life-logging camera.

Yahoo, in a desperate attempt to appear appealing to my fellow Gen Xr’s and younger crowd, bought Tumblr. No, I’m not happy. I’ve had a Tornado Quest Tumblr blog for many years. All I can say is…Yahoo, you’d better not screw this up.

Affirmations can be a great mental boost to help you though the good and bad times of life. Here are some knowledge affirmations, many of which I thought were quite helpful.

If there ever was a browser add-on that I couldn’t live without, Ghostery would be the one. It’s available for Firefox & Opera and I can’t recommend it highly enough. They’ve put together a very clever list of trackers that’s modeled after the periodic table of elements. As the saying goes, “know thine enemy.”

Which company protects your privacy the most or least? Check out this list. There are some pleasant surprises & disappointments.

More carbon dioxide is good for the environment. And so is addiction to nicotine. Keeps the tobacco industry healthy & robust. Makes sense…right?

There’s nothing like a good discussion over a glass of fine wine. Here’s 99 one-liners that’s bound to help liven up the evening. From personal experience, you can’t change their mind if they see science as an enemy of a “free” society. Trust me.

Many species of plants and animals are just as vulnerable to our rapidly changing climate.

As glaciers melt and retreat, they’re exposing long-frozen species of plants…some of which are coming back to life.

A very clear statement from the American Meteorological Society on the inclusion of climate science in science education.

Does climate change play a part in the frequency and/or intensity of tornadoes? There could be a connection, but most scientists agree we need more research.

The Moore, OK tornado of 20 May 2013 brought back to the forefront of tornado discussions the 3 May 1999 OK/KS outbreak. Here’s the NOAA service assessment (51 page PDF file) of the largest tornado outbreak in OK history.

Discriminating between EF-4 and EF-5 damage can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned meteorologists with vast experience in tornado path surveys. Here’s a very nice slide presentation (26 slide PDF file) that has some great information.

Tornadoes of F-5/EF-5 intensity are exceptionally rare. Here’s a map and list of all the F-5/EF-5 tornadoes in the US since 1950 (the year official tornado records began). OK & AL are tied for 1st place with seven each.

Many folks have questions about the Enhanced Fujita Scale. This is a good primer to get you started.

The Atlantic magazine has some awe-inspiring images of tornado damage in Moore, OK. As graphic as the photos are, they can’t replace being there and seeing this magnitude of damage first hand.

This “swipe map” shows the jaw-dropping effects of the Moore, OK EF-5 tornado. A great deal of information can be deciphered from observing damage in a before/after format.

This time lapse video of the Moore, OK tornado speaks volumes about the various changes and fluid dynamics of the tornado life cycle.

A good read from a SPC meteorologist on the forecasting challenges of the May 31, 2013 tornado outbreak in the plains. Meteorology is one of the few occupations where many critical life and death decisions are made trying to second guess something as chaotic and erratic as the earth’s atmosphere.

Wrapping this up, here’s a nice piece from the Capital Weather Gang written in light of some unfortunate encounters storm chasers had with tornadoes in central OK on May 31, 2013.

It’s quite likely that I’ll be doing a weekly post of geoscience & science links if for no other reason than to spread out the workload. Some of the information is also time sensitive, especially in today’s “this morning’s news is yesterday’s history” state of mind.